What is Soil?

Soil is often referred to as dirt and we know that it is used for planting. What is soil exactly? What is soil made up of and what is soil to life on earth? What exactly is in this nutrient filled part of earth? There are interesting facts behind this nutrient based part of life.

What is soil?

Soil is a mixture of rotting organic matter, corroded rock, mineral nutrients, air, and water. Tiny living organisms also make up dirt or soil. Dirt is continuously formed over a period of time and forms faster in wet climates.

Soil is a covering over the earth’s surface that is made up of different layers. Each layer consists of distinct substances that provide necessary nutrients for plants to grow.

The Surface Litter layer is the top soil of layer. “Litter” refers to things such as parts of trees or plants that fall, animal waste, dead animals, and other decaying matter. These things fall onto the surface of the soil. Microorganisms and bacteria found in soil help to decompose leaves into useful nutrients.

Topsoil Layer or Humus is the next layer. This is the next layer directly below the Surface Litter layer. All the leaves, branches, and other rotting matter from the top layer travel to this layer. Rocks from the top layer carry mineral and break down into small pieces over time. The Surface Litter and Topsoil layer are both important to the earth. Many living things including insects, earthworms, bacteria, and fungi live in these parts.

Subsoil is the next layer down. This layer consists of broken down pieces of rocks, sand, slit, gravel, and clay. Aluminum and iron compounds and humus remains are filtered down to this level.

The Parent Material is the last layer. This is the bedrock underneath all soil layers. It may either consist of material deposited by wind, water, or ice, or decomposed rock. When Parent materials have a lot of potassium, sodium, magnesium, and soluble ions-calcium, they are made available to plants and easily dissolved.

Why do we need soil?

Soil is beneficial to the earth in many aspects. Plants need soil to grow and survive. Without soil there would be no place to plant seeds. Humans also rely on dirt or soil. Humans and animals rely on plants for food and oxygen. It is a necessary part of the cycle of life.

More Related Content:

Benefits of Trees to the Air

Sources:

www.exploringnature.org


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *